Besides Halloween time, when can you pay tribute to your favorite cartoon/movie/video game/anime character and show off your craftiness through costume and not be laughed at or made fun of (sorta...)
Oh, how we all love it when Comic Con rolls into town. Blame the aisle traffic jams on the many Comic Con attendees who stopped and posed for pictures. But hey, can't really hate on anyone in costume. Just wandering around and seeing the costumes was pure entertainment in itself.
It has been a long 5 days of... waking up early to find parking, dropping too much money on parking/pedicabs/limited edition nonsense/food/drinks, swiftly maneuvering through the crowd of 125,000+ attendees, waiting in line for 1+ hour(s) in hopes to not get denied into a panel/autograph signing/limited edition item, smelling that comic con trademark smell, having achy feet from walking up and down the aisles, having sore shoulders from carrying all the free and/or bought swag... argh...
[click to see the semi-calm preview night coming to a close]
ThePushing Daisies panel was the one thing I was hella excited about for this year's Con. The quirky 12-time Emmy nominated show about a pie maker with the gift to bring dead things back to life (and back to dead) made its debut at last year's convention, which I missed because no one wanted to go with me .... ::sigh::. I figured this year would be my chance, even if I had to go by myself -- which I did! Their panel had the whole cast, Lee Pace, Anna Friel, Chi McBride, Ellen Greene, Kristin Chenoweth, Swoosie Kurtz, and executive producers Dan Jinks and Peter Ocko, and moderated by special guest and executive producer Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black, people!). Special clips from the upcoming season were shown along with highlights from season 1.
But when I went to line up for room 6A (which isn't even all that big a room), I found myself going down the hall, into another hall, out the door, and down the stairs -- that description doesn't even justify how long the line was! I thought to myself, "There's no way I'm getting in. I'll just go to the signing at the WB booth."
Three hours of circling and unorganized chaos later . . . I didn't even get in line! People were pushing and shoving like crazy, so I suppose some fans were just living up to the name of the show.
Good news for you guys though (and me too in a sense) is that I managed to at least get some pictures of the show's star, Lee Pace, who is up an Emmy for Best Actor. n_n
This is the best from the bunch:
Pushing Daisies comes out on DVD and Blu-ray Sept. 16, and the second season begins Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. on ABC. To catch full episodes, check out ABC's website.
Next year will be MY year! And more news and pictures are on the way. :)
Season 2 is still in the skeletal phases of being planned out, but nonetheless the show is coming back this fall. Huzzah! A special reel put together just for Comic Con was shown before the panel -- it was basically a highlight of the most nerdiest moments in the show. O_o Savage also introduced the audience to a fully animated music video to aid the show's theme song performed by the Barenaked Ladies.
Sorry, no clip of that. We weren't allowed to record any of those snippets and I wasn't about to risk having my camera smashed to bits!
But here's a clip of something that was in the reel:
[L-R] Billy Prady, Johnny Galecki, Jim Parsons, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Heldberg, and Kunal Nayyar (Chuck Lorre not pictured)
The good news is, everyone was allowed to record the panel, and I have a few videos for y'all to peep. Woot! Enjoy. n_n
Here, the creators and cast are asked to raise their hand to any nerdy thing that related to them. The question asked at the beginning was about having a real light saber and wondering what it would be like.
Jim Parsons (Sheldon) is asked about his character's infamous t-shirts. The casts' chemistry is also discussed.
Everyone on panel is asked about their geek credibility.
Everyone's favorite G4 vixen Olivia Munn is started a weblog especially for ComicCon! From her new website HeyOlivia.com, the host of Attack of the Show will be posting up some video blogs of all the G4 coverage and behind-the-scenes goodness from the 'Con. However, so far as of this writing there's just a couple of videos of her in her hotel room decked out in a robe and flossing (not that's a bad thing of course) talking about getting ready for the show, watching "The Sandlot" all night and her '1337 texting skillz'. Awesome.
I WONDER what the newly-single* gaming/internet goddess will dress up as this year?
*I'll see you (and her) at the G4/StrangeCo and the SuperHero parties later tonight!
Due to some serious problems at our production facility in Hong Kong, we did not recieve anything like the shipment we had worked so hard to have for you at Comic Con. We only received a small portion of the dolls we were promised and those came in plain white boxes. Furthermore, some of the boxes were damaged and the dolls were not up to the quality standards that we feel you deserve. We are going to try to make the best of it. - we rescued 35 of the little bastards - they are the Gold version - we will likely not make any more of these, and since there is no art on the box, Claudio and artist Sheldon Vella will be at the con to hand decorate and sign the box. We are heartbroken and disappointed that this happened, and we hope if you don't manage to get one one now, you'll follow our announcements and get a "proper" doll once they are available. So here's what we're doing - First run "Kill Audio Gold doll" - All sales final, no returns. As we said, we have done our absolute best to not sell any dolls with imperfections, but if you happen to find some minor ones on these dolls, you will have to find those endearing. These will be very rare and we wanted to at least have something for those of you who really really want one RIGHT NOW. The dolls will be $75 each, due to all the hell we've gone through and the fact that we had to reject a quantity and eat costs. Here's how the 35 dolls will be made available at Comic Con - at the IMAGE COMICS BOOTH #2729 Thursday July 24th - 10am - 10 dolls will be made available - we suggest you come early. Friday July 25th - 10am - 10 more dolls will be made available. Saturday July 26th - 10am -15 dolls will be made available. and that's it. Claudio and Sheldon will be on hand early to get creative on the boxes if you want them to. They will be there to sign the purchased dolls ONLY - no signings of comic books or other items will take place outside of the scheduled signing times. Please accept our apologies that we won't have more KA dolls available and we hope to have updated info for you soon. Here is what else we will have in stock at Comic Con, Image Comics booth #2729. The Amory Wars Tshirt - NEW! - $15 The Amory Wars Comics: Volume 1 Issue 1 - Variant - $10-15 (while they last) Issue 1 - color not available Issue 2 - color and b/w - $15 (while they last - we are down to less than 100 of each in stock and they are not available online or in stores) Issue 3-5 $4 Volume 2 Issue 1, 2 - $4 The Amory Wars Trade Paperback - $15 The Amory Wars Sketchbook - $10 Good Apollo Graphic Novel - $20 The Second Stage Turbine Books are not available. Official Claudio Sanchez signing times: Thursday 3-4PM Saturday 2-3PM / 5-6PM Sunday 12-1PM
Get 'em quick, boys and girls. Once you do... Run, lock your door. They're coming for you...
For those who didn't get enough fun on July 24, the first day of the San Diego International ComicCon, comes the Superhero Live Music and Art Party, hosted by San Diego graphic agency Ninthlink and Murphy Art Books!
Make sure you're dressed up as your favorite superhero (or villian) because from 7pm to Midnight the free, 21+ event will happen at the Warehouse Space located at 1616 National Avenue, San Diego 92113. Among the featured artists' works include Anthony Lister, Jeff Soto, Joel Nakamura, Jen Lobo, Matt Stallings, Luke Chueh, Mark Todd, Esther Pearl Watson, Martha Rich, R.G., Peter Taylor (Handmade Feet), Andy Howell, Kathie Olivas, Chris Ryniak, Lola, Germs, Marco Wagner, Mark Murphy and many more. All of the art exhibited will also be available to be sold. Plus there will be plenty of finger foods and sushi plus Effen Vodka drinks, plus live music from the Modlins and DJs SSI.
Directions from the Convention Center: Start by going SOUTHEAST on WEST HARBOR DRIVE toward SALIDA LOOP. Turn LEFT onto SIGSBEE ST. Turn LEFT onto NATIONAL AVENUE. End at 1616 National Ave San Diego, CA 92113.
Recently artist Shepard Fairey of OBEY has recently donated his iconic Obama "Hope" poster in support for the Art For Life Art Auction. As of this writing, the 45 x 69 1 of 3 editioned collage is going for upwards of $75k.
More Obama, right?… Well, this is something special. After Shepard’s initial feeling not to make a fine art piece of the OBAMA image, he thought about it and was presented with an opportunity to do something exceptional. When Shepard was asked by industry heavyweight, Russell Simmons, to donate a piece for his Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, he felt this was a worthy cause. The piece is being auctioned for the Art For Life Charity event. This piece is approximately 4×6 foot in size and its a mixed media stencil collage on paper. It may be the only fine art piece of this image available to the public. You can bid on the piece through the Art For Life Auction here.
For those not in the know, Fairey made his support for Barack Obama known when he created prints concerning the 2008 candidate's themes. These prints sold out indefinitely and are now as much in demand as they are famous.
However those who missed out on showing some love by obtaining the prints have the opportunity to wear that support with OBAMA x OBEY x UpperPlayground collaboration hoodies. At $60 each, the hoodie sales will go back into producing more Obama Campaign materials and maybe more posters according to the website.
Take a break from all the lines and hoopla at Comic Con and mosey on down to Subtext in San Diego's Little Italy.
Stefan G. Bucher will be signing his book, 100 Days of Monsters, next thursday (jul 24) between 6-8 p.m. The book depicts monsters and their monster stories. Also included is a dvd which has time lapse video clips of Stefan sketching 100 daily monsters. Pretty darn cool.
and if that wasn't enough,
friday & saturday (jul 25-26) Subtext will also be having a vinyl toy display showcasing the custom works of over 30 world wide artists. An O K E E d O R K E E fave, Cameron Tiede, will be one of the cool few who will be putting their fingerprint on the new YOKA Panda bear by adfunture.
So you can believe our excitement finding that the always thoughtful and clever Mr. Frederiksen will be returning to one of favorite Los Angeles galleries, G1988, for a second solo show! You may remember his first solo gallery at G1988 the previous year where I provided extensive coverage of his art and meeting the talented artist. If eye-ailment permits*, he will be present in the shows opening reception on July 15th, 7-10pm Tuesday night. From July 15 onto August 8th fans will be able to catch a glimpse of his new paintings, drawings, prints, installations and other works!
The G1988 blog revealed a sketched layout of the gallery submitted by Kurt, showing evidence of mixed media works. Beyond drawing and paintings, there will be park signs, painted records and plush cats (our condolences btw to another one of his cats) displayed throughout. Listen to your heart and tune in as we'll be seeing you at Melrose!
Avaliable in limited quanities at STRANGEco's Comic Con booth, Tokidoki's cactus crew: Sandy, Sabochan, Bastardino, and Polpettina get dipped in shimmery vinyl goodness along with the pups. The lucky folks who pick up a rare golden pup'll win a prize -- lucky bastard(ino).
Subtext will be having a custom vinyl show on November 14 until December 7 with the opening reception on November 14 from 6-10 p.m. 50 artists will customize Zakkamono's Miao which consists of two vinyls --- Lucky Cat and Mousubi.
Your favorite tree lover will be immortalized --- Treeson will be joining the Mimoco Fambam and will be your ultra cool USB flash drive filled with wallpapers, screensavers, icons, music and avatars, as well as mimoByte™ sound software and the latest issue of mimoZine™ digital magazine.
[Treeson as your new fave USB flash drive. image courtesy of mimoco.com.]
The Treeson USB flash drives will be available first July 10th exclusively at the Taipei Toy Festival in Taiwan with a signing by artist Bubi Au Yeung. If you are unlucky like us and not at Taipei (boo) you can purchase Treeson online at Mimoco.
Typically when a big blockbuster sequel comes out (in this case Batman : The Dark Knight) there usually is a re-release that sparks its fuses (again in this case, the must-have Batman Begins- Limited Edition Gift Set which includes a whole utility belt's fill of goodies). However rather than building up hype with rehashed content, the brains behind Batman have gone the extra mile to produce a series of all-new material with an anime twist!
Straight from the Batcave comes Batman: The Gotham Knight, out tomorrow on DVD, 2-Disc Collector's Edition DVD, Blu-Ray and On Demand! In the same vein of the release of the Animatrix preceding the theatre released Matrix Reloaded, Batman: The Gotham Knight contains a series of all-new chapters in Batman lore by some of the heavy hitters in comics, screenwriting, and Japanese animation!
That should definitely get your Bat-signal lit 'til July 18, when Batman : The Dark Knight comes out of the shadows!
Foe the love of $, how cool is this tee? Am I the only one that feels like I'm looking into a mirror?
This collabo with HVW8 and Kevin Lyons just gives us graphic designers the street cred we need. What you know about that dope typeface?!? (ha, no really, what do you know? what is it?!? ya think it's their own special typeface?) Show 'em a Lil L.O.V.E and cop the tee here.
Watch out, we carry Sharpies and Xactos on us on all times. CS3 fo' life. And here's another one I wanna throw in the mix. =)
